Bonjour la famille et les amis,
It’s someday and the return of On the Flip Side. Allow me to explain. Early on in the 2010 movie, “Knight and Day”, Tom Cruise’s character tells Cameron Diaz’s character that someday is a dangerous word, a code word for never. At the end of the movie after breaking Cruise’s character out of CIA detention and setting off to Cape Horn via the Pan-American highway, Diaz’s character responds to his question of what day it is, with it’s someday.
Sunset from my Aparthotel
Well it’s someday for me. Or more precisely, it was someday eight months ago at the end of February when I retired from full-time work at the Colorado School of Mines. For the last eight months, I have been living, what is known in expat circles as, a Roving Retirement. No permanent abode – the apartment no longer rented and before that, the condo sold. Spent some time in Puerto Vallarta (10 weeks), San Diego (8 weeks), and Denver (12 weeks).
For the last month though, Europe is the current locale, specifically the Basque Country – initially the French version and now the Spanish version. For this posting, the photos are from my two week stay in Biarritz, France. The view from my apartment-hotel overlooked the Plage de la Cote des Basques – the surfer beach. Loved keeping the balcony door open for the ocean breeze and the sound of the crashing waves.
Grande Plage
Rocher de la Vierge
The Grande Plage is the main beach which becomes Plage Miramar at the iconic Hotel du Palais – see the photo gallery for the magnificent red and white hotel and casino. Between the Cotes des Basques and Grande beaches, the Plage Port Vieux is the cute little beach that offers a view of the Villa Belza on its seaward perch – see the photo gallery for the fairybook castle residence. To the left, the Rocher de la Vierge (Virgin’s Rock) juts into the Bay of Biscay and offers stunning views of the Basque seascape.
That’s it for now. As always, please feel free to share this link with anyone who expresses an interest. And of course, if I am cluttering up your inbox, simply let me know and I will correct that. Lastly, as before, I will sign off from On the Flip Side with my very much cherished title of Papi – the French word for Grandpa and how I am know by my Grandsons Oliver and Daniel. Please have a look at the gallery below for full-size versions of the photos above as well as additional photos of Biarritz.
A bientot,
Papi
